Battle Heroes X: S01E03
Engraved in Crystal is the third episode of the Battle Heroes X series, the third episode in Battle Heroes X Season One, and the third episode overall. The episode is the also second part of the two part episode. It revolves around Zack, Julius, and Cloud arriving in Japan to stop Bane from stealing the Pawākurisutaru crystals and becoming unstoppable. The Episode After Cloud fell unconscious, Zack and Julius carried the knocked out hero in tow to the nearby town, where they found out where they were. The town was called Miyazaki, which was on Kyushu Island, which was also near Mount Kaimon, the supposed location of the Pawākurisutaru tribe. Zack and Julius were able to transfer their USD to yen and buy a room at a motel. When Cloud came to, he was in bed, looking at the ceiling. He groaned and rubbed his head. "Finally, you're awake. I was beginning to worry again," Julius said in a bed next to Cloud's. He was watching something on the small TV in front of him and clicking the remote rapidly, channel surfing. "Guhhh...remind me to never touch another wire again, Julius." He rolled out of bed and slowly got up. "Where's Zack?" "He went out to buy supplies. Turns out you teleported us right next to the mountain where those crystals guys are. Plan is to leave at dawn, climb the mountain, and warn the tribe that Bane wants to steal their crystals." "Sounds good to me, man. What time is it, anyway?" "12:00 A.M." Cloud groaned again, falling on his bed. "...God dammit. Well, anything good on?" He turned his head to watch the TV as well. "...Nope. Every show is in Japanese," Julius replied, sighing. "God dammit...again." Suddenly, the door to the room unlocked and Zack entered, holding two shopping bags full of stuff. "Alright, Julius, I'm back, with supplies," Zack said, dropping the bags and backpack on the ground. Julius turned around to see Zack. "Yo. Cloud's awake again," "Good. How was your nap?" Zack asked, sitting on his bed. "Great. My entire body's sore," Cloud answered, getting up to look through the bag's content. Julius got up to look as well. In total, there were 3 pairs of sunglasses, a pocket dictionary for Japanese, a few bottles of water, and bags of snacks like beef jerky and chips. "What are the sunglasses for?" Julius asked, putting them on. "Disguising, so Bane doesn't immediately recognize us in a crowd and try to run away," Zack replied. Cloud opened one of the beef jerky bags and began chomping down on it. After finishing most of the bag, he moved on to the water and chugged a bottle down. Then, he went back to the beef jerky. "Damn, Cloud! Take it easy!" Julius said, surprised at Cloud's hunger. "Hey, if you get shocked by a metric crapton of watts of electricity, you'd be just as hungry as I am," Cloud said defensively between bites of dried meat. Zack yawned and laid down on his bed. "Alright guys, we'd better get sleep, we have a long day ahead of us." "Night, Zack," Cloud said, also laying down to sleep. Julius turned off the lights and got into bed as well, falling asleep last. Later on, Zack was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was having one of those dreams again, one like the dream he had at the hospital. He was in the same crystal room full of beautiful gems, with a crystal bed, crystal staircase, and crystal refrigerator. "Welcome back, Zack. I've been itching to talk to you about something." The same voice as before started. "What now, is something wrong?" Zack asked, his voice lined with caution. "Not at this moment, but possibly in the future." "Like what? Julius, Cloud and I are prepared to stop Bane and end this whole conflict tomorrow. We just have to warn the tribe that Bane wants their crystals." "Things aren't always as expected, Zack. Proceed carefully. ''Very ''carefully." "Why? Is something going to happen to us? Does Bane have some other trick he hasn't pulled off yet?" "That's all I can say about the matter, Zack. Good luck," The voice concluded before fading. The room began to fade away to black. Zack slowly snapped to reality and woke up. Julius and Cloud were already awake and packing up. It was time to go. The three heroes checked out of the motel and began their long trek up the mountain and away from civilization. Each wore the sunglasses bought last night. None of them spoke a word, but walked silently. Julius broke the silence with a cough. "So what's the plan? Step 1: we climb up this mountain. Step 2: find the crystal people. Step 3: warn the crystal people that Bane's coming. Step 4: profit?" He asked. "Not quite, Julius. We don't know if Bane's beat us up to the top," Zack answered. "Yeah? Well, just throw in 'kick the crap out of Bane if he beat us up the mountain' in between step 3 and 4." "You're not thinking enough about this, Julius. If Bane beats us up the mountain, then he'll probably have a trap ready in case we did follow him to Japan." "We'll be ready this time when we have to fight him. He took us by surprise last time," Julius said, punching his palm with his fist. "Mhm. We can do this, together," Cloud added. Zack nodded his head in agreement and the three kept on moving in silence. Unknown to the three, Bane stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking them. "They're...here. They followed me to Japan. This changes everything..." He said. Looking around, Bane noticed a pile of large boulders. A smirk began to appear on his face. Charging a shadow ball in his hand, he fired it behind the pile and the boulders rolled down into the path of Julius, Zack, and Cloud. Julius was the first to notice a boulder rolling at them. "What th--GUYS LOOK OUT!" He yelled. Zack and Cloud noticed the boulders as well and the latter brought out his sword, jumping in front of Julius and slicing it in half. "More incoming!" Julius said again, firing an ice beam into the ground to form a ramp for a boulder. The boulder launched off the ram and over the trio's head. Zack summoned his crystals to chip through the boulders. "Where are they coming from?" Cloud yelled over the rumbling of rocks. Finally, the barrage of boulders ended, with all three heroes standing, albeit spent. Bane looked at them in disgust. "Still alive...they're like cockroaches. I'd better get moving. My plan must not fail..." Bane said before slowly vanishing from sight. After taking a short break, the heroes continued to trek up the mountain. Zack insisted they kept going, but Julius and Cloud needed it. They had been climbing all day. Finally, the heroes arrived at a lush forest on a flat surface of the mountain. Zack took out his map and examined it. "This is it, guys. We're here," He said. Julius looked around for a moment. "I don't see any tribes people around here." "That's because they're located deeper in the forest, Julius." "Oh. Fair enough." The three began a new journey through the forest with Zack in the front with a map, Cloud close behind him, and Julius leisurely strolling in the back, whistling. Zack turned around and glared at him. "Julius, what the hell are you doing?" "What? I'm just relaxing amidst this beautiful forest," Julius answered. "Can you be more serious? The tribe is extremely aggressive towards trespassers and you're liable to getting us killed." "Look, we're trying to help them, why would they even hurt us? Relax, Zack." While Zack and Julius argued, Cloud was looking around and noticed movement behind a tree. "Hey guys?" He asked softly. "I'm sick of you taking this mission like a joke!" "Yeah, well, you're taking this like it's such a big deal!" Cloud tried again. "I think there's something behind that tree." "This is Bane we're talking about. Last time I checked, he put all three of us in the hospital." "We were off guar--" "WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!!" Zack and Julius ceased speaking to look at Cloud, surprised at his outburst. "As I was saying, I think someone watching us." Suddenly, the ground under Julius began to rumble and crystals erupted from the earth, encasing him in a cage of crystals. "Zack, this isn't funny!" Julius said, nervous for once. Zack looked around cautiously. "That wasn't me, Julius." The ground began to rumble again and this time Cloud was locked in a cage made of crystals. Could it be? Could Bane have already stolen the crystal from the tribes people, Zack thought to himself. "Whoever you are...come out," Zack said, crystals surround him. The bushes around him rustled and people exited from them. There were some people behind trees as well. They stood around Zack and his crystals. The people were covered in tribal tattoos and paint. Almost instantly, crystals materialized around them, aimed directly at Zack. Zack dropped his crystals and was silent. One of the men of the group stepped forward and gestured behind him. "So you want me to come with you..alright," Zack said, nodding. The man nodded as well and he and the rest of his group moved forward. Two stayed behind with their crystals still aimed at Zack. Another two pointed at the crystal cages and they began to levitate upward with Julius and Cloud still in them. Zack began to follow the group. The group lead Zack to the top of a hill, overlooking a tribe camp. The camp was full of huts and people. "Where are we? I can't see jack from my cage," Cloud asked. A grim smile appeared on Zack's face. "It looks like we're here," A crystal poked Zack in his back, signalling him to move down the hill. Finally, the group, Zack, Julius, and Cloud arrived in the village. The tribes people looked at the tree as if they were aliens. "So much for a heroes welcome, huh?" Julius commented. Zack turned to glare at Julius as the group entered a slightly bigger hut at the center of the camp. In the hut, a man of large stature was sitting on the ground, eyes closed. He appeared to be meditating. Crystals were at his feet. The men who were escorting the heroes shoved them forward. One of them began to speak, but not in a language the heroes understood. The man opened his eyes and got up, glancing at Zack, Julius, and Cloud. He said something to the other man. Crystals that were lying on the ground levitated into the air and surround them. They glowed yellow and suddenly the heroes could understand their conversation. "Trespassers?" The large man asked of his comrade. "Yes, chief. These three were wandering in our forest, but-" The chief raised a hand to silence him. "Dispose of them, as we do with all trespassers." "Chief, these ones, they're different." The man took hold of Zack's shoulder and led him forward. "This one, he harnesses the power of the crystals as well." Now the chief raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Show me." Zack closed his eyes and concentrated with everything he had to display his crystal powers. Two of the crystals used in the ritual gravitated towards Zack and changed from a yellow glow to green. All the tribesmen watching became visibly uncomfortable and murmured among each other. The chief nodded his head. "Set them free." The man let go of Zack's shoulder and his comrades freed Cloud and Julius from their cages. "Speak, what is your purpose. Why have you come here?" The chief asked. Zack began to explain. "I'm Zack," He pointed to Julius, then Cloud. "He's Julius, and he's Cloud. We came here to Japan to warn your tribe about a great evil." The tribespeople murmured even more, some stating that "the end times have arrived". "Silence," The chief said. The tribesmen stopped talking. "What is this evil you speak of?" Julius piped up now. "His name is Bane and he came here to steal your crystals." Cloud chimed in as well. "He's going to strike during one of your rituals, the one where your youth unlock their latent power!" The chief frowned, deep in thought. "I know of the ritual you speak of. In fact, our tribe's chosen two are here right now. They are preparing for their trials tomorrow," The chief said before turning around. "Chan, Hoji, come out." From a flap behind the chief, two young men emerged. Both had black spiky hair, black eyes and wore no upper clothing, but wore a breechcloth. Chan, however, was shorter and Hoji was taller, more muscular, and had an air of confidence around him. Chan was a bit more anxious. Zack began to speak again. "We could escort them to the cave, prevent Bane from getting the cry--" "I appreciate your offer, Zack, but I don't think that will be necessary. Only those who can harness our crystals' power can complete the ritual. This Bane would be left with a useless rock if he steals it from Chan and Hoji." "Why worry, father? With me using those crystals, I'll send anything that comes my way to a shallow grave!" Hoji said arrogantly. "A-are you sure about this, I mean, we're just boys..." Chan said nervously. "Boys that will become men by tomorrow. Now rest for tomorrow. You will need all your energy." Chan and Hoji returned to their room behind the flap. The chief moved his focus back to Zack, Julius, and Cloud. "As for you three, usually outsiders are killed to preserve the secrets of our tribe, but there's something different about you three. You may remain here until after the ritual if you wish." Category:Battle Heroes X Category:Battle Heroes X: Season One Episodes Category:Japanimation Studios Category:Episodes